I borrowed the title of this post from the Onion (so I hope they don't sue me) but that is EXACTLY what the good ole US of A feels like to me right now. Katie and I (mostly Katie) have been trying to get a new car. With our debts all gone away we don't exactly have a lump sum of cash laying around, so that means its car loan time.
Before we get into that, a little background on me....I have never borrowed money. My parents paid for my school out of the money they saved for my college education (for which I am and will be eternally grateful) and I have never had a credit card. So, I am pretty proud of that.
Katie has had school loans (which are gone, see the first paragraph) so she has a credit score, and a good one at that.
To the Loan process, we have applied with 4 different institutions now. Here's the breakdown of them so far:
Regions: Approved (which should be good news) but with a rate of 13.74 flippin percent!!! I almost laughed in the girls face when she told me. When she said she needed to call and check if the rate she was seeing was right, I knew it wasn't good. Regions may be on the way out as our bank of choice.
Suntrust: Declined twice. They have a second lending company they use once Suntrust can't offer a loan.
US Bank: We have applied and are awaiting their decision. We had to take me completely off the application for them to consider the loan. So I got that going for me, which is nice.
State Farm: We are applying with my work (yes, State farm does Auto loans, e-mail me at Justin@rustybragg.com if you're interested in learning more)
I am most upset about this: Someone who is in debt up to their eyeballs but can make a minimum monthly payment is more credit-worthy than someone who has never had to borrow money in their life. How dumb of an idea is that? Who are the Ad Wizards that came up with that? I wish I had this dog's credit score in this instance.
Brother, I feel your pain. Having grown up in the same household, I imagine my credit was/is about as good as yours! Blake was in school, making $0 a month. Seeing how we had to pay tuition, we thought it would be nice to mooch of a credit card company and get frequent flyer miles at the same time. I, the bread winner at the time, called to get a card and was denied. Oh...but...the kicker... Blake was approved!!!!! WHAT??? A college student, with no income, totally dependent on his wife to pay his way through life at the time, was approved and I was not! I laughed explaining that it was MY paycheck that would be paying HIS bill!!! Sorry for the long post but it brought back a lot of memories...do I need counseling Katie? Oh, it may help to go to a smaller back like, FF&M in C-town. The big dogs are much harder to work with!
ReplyDeleteBacks don't really help...but smaller "banks" do! You could try talking to B. Morgan at Regions. He may be able to pull some strings?
ReplyDeleteJust want to throw this out there, if you don't like it--send it right back.
ReplyDeleteAfter working so hard to get out of debt, why are working so hard to get right back into it?
There it is, I said it.
Also, we are probably selling Laura's car in a few weeks. I'll make you a good deal.
ReplyDeleteandrew...just wondering if maybe you should have left out the fact that she no longer has a passenger side mirror before you advertised it was for sale.....
ReplyDeleteJ-Jo
Oh, it "has" a passenger side-view mirror. Just not attached to the car.
ReplyDeleteKatie can just hold it up there while Justin drives.
Jennifer's witty comment here would have been lost if this whole thread had been started on "the mother ship" where women are rarely allowed. I say, vive la personal blogs!
ReplyDeleteHey guys! You might want to try a Credit Union. They have much lower rates on auto loans. I work for Cornerstone and we serve members of the education field. Since Katie works at a school she is eligable to join. If she has a good credit score she will get a low rate. Justin will need to be a co-applicant so he can receive credit for the loan as well. You can actually apply online before you open an account. Our website is www.cornerstonefinancialcu.org. Hope this is helpful!
ReplyDeleteCarmen
No, it is not helpful! Debt is not the answer! (I guess unless you don't count the huge debt we have on the house we just bought, but we'll look past that.)
ReplyDeleteYou people quit giving him crappy advice. Dave Ramsey is crying somewhere right now.
I think the google ads now at the bottom of this post should be a warning sign.
ReplyDeleteNext time you go apply for some debt, Justin, imagine me, your personal anti-debt angel, on your shoulder singing "I (used to be) free, free, free at last...."
We're actually joining a credit union as of yesterday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
I hear you. But I don't have any outs on this one. It is a necessary evil.
I'm sorry, buddy.
ReplyDeleteI called A&E to see if they would let me do the show Intervention with you, but I guess you're too far gone.
I love you no matter what.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the show Intervention, everyone needs to see he one with the girl who inhaled computer duster all day long.
ReplyDeleteIts very sad, yet it almost looked like she was in an SNL skit. Youtube it up.
Sorry I've been absent from these posts, but Google Reader is great(for checking blogs) except that I have no need to go back to my own!
ReplyDeleteCarmen - thanks for the advice, I had just talked to someone at school and she told me that was the one to go to.
Andrew - It is a necessary evil, I promise. With our crappy cars, we might as well be paying a car payment on something that is enjoyable to ride in, but thanks for reminding us that we are about to no longer be debt free.
Justin, I feel your pain. When we tried to buy our house, I couldn't be put on the loan because I had never had credit cards or debt. It was pretty discouraging, and I even told the lender so. He actually admitted that someone who was in debt up to their eyeballs would have a better chance at getting a loan than me. Sadness...
ReplyDeleteYou should take a loan out and get a new computer.
ReplyDelete